Seaport Square (Formerly McCourt Seaport Parcels)

[jass]

Well you don't have to worry. This section of the Seaport is already seeing activity past 10pm thanks to all the restaurants they have. Building it up would only attract more people here.

You see any restaurants in that shot?

Is like saying Kendall is alive and swinging because Cambridge has so many bars and restaurants.

Or that the financial district doesnt look like a scene from the walking dead on weekends because it is literally surrounded by bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels.

It takes very little horizontal space to go from alive to dead.

 

[George_Apley]

You see any restaurants in that shot?

Is like saying Kendall is alive and swinging because Cambridge has so many bars and restaurants.

Or that the financial district doesnt look like a scene from the walking dead on weekends because it is literally surrounded by bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels.

It takes very little horizontal space to go from alive to dead.

I see retail, and correct me if I'm wrong, that retail could be restaurants. They're zoned the same, or at least they can be.

 

[JoeBoston1]

Inovation Ctr. N face

walking by this building the other day, I still have no idea what it's for other than a jobs creation project.

Was thinking, man this would freakin awesome as a public library.

 

[underground]

Is like saying Kendall is alive and swinging because Cambridge has so many bars and restaurants.

Not to derail the thread, but Kendall Square has done a complete 180 in the last 2-3 years. It's actually pretty amazing.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

It's only taken a 90..... and is just where the Seaport is headed still.

Too many high end restaurants and over priced drink places. Nothing wrong with those, but they need to be tempered by more middle of the road fair, but it's definitely moving in the right direction as compared to where it was. Also, much like the Seaport/Fort Point area, Kendall could easily support a handful more of lunch options as evidenced by the sick length of lines everyday. It's the total lack of after work people that keep this from happening.

I would hope, with the much blanker palette it started with, that the Seaport could solve some of these issues quicker, but the jury is still out.

The areas are very good for comparison, and the Seaport should be looking at both the successes and failures at Kendall, not just the successes.

 

[fattony]

It's only taken a 90..... and is just where the Seaport is headed still.

Too many high end restaurants and over priced drink places. Nothing wrong with those, but they need to be tempered by more middle of the road fair, but it's definitely moving in the right direction as compared to where it was. Also, much like the Seaport/Fort Point area, Kendall could easily support a handful more of lunch options as evidenced by the sick length of lines everyday. It's the total lack of after work people that keep this from happening.

I would hope, with the much blanker palette it started with, that the Seaport could solve some of these issues quicker, but the jury is still out.

The areas are very good for comparison, and the Seaport should be looking at both the successes and failures at Kendall, not just the successes.

Well said. Kendall has vastly, vastly improved in a short time, but it is hardly the model to aim for. It will continue to improve. As you point out, the Seaport has the opportunity to get it right the first time.

There is so much pressure in both areas for exactly the opposite of good urbanism - setbacks, broken street walls, impossibly useless tiny "green spaces". I just hope that those nonsense ideas can be suitably squashed before the entire place is built out.

 

[George_Apley]

It's only taken a 90..... and is just where the Seaport is headed still.

Too many high end restaurants and over priced drink places. Nothing wrong with those, but they need to be tempered by more middle of the road fair, but it's definitely moving in the right direction as compared to where it was. Also, much like the Seaport/Fort Point area, Kendall could easily support a handful more of lunch options as evidenced by the sick length of lines everyday. It's the total lack of after work people that keep this from happening.

I would hope, with the much blanker palette it started with, that the Seaport could solve some of these issues quicker, but the jury is still out.

The areas are very good for comparison, and the Seaport should be looking at both the successes and failures at Kendall, not just the successes.

Kendall is on the right track though. More housing and development is bringing more opportunities for retail spaces. Kendall will never be as intimate as Central Square due to the size and amorphousness of "Kendall", long stretches of nothing in MIT's campus and superblock blank walls that will probably never be improved upon. The issues of Kendall are similar to the issues with the Financial District and the Seaport: Not enough residents to support businesses after the work day is over. That's changing quickly in Kendall, and is planned to change in the Seaport. People living in these places is the key to a livelier neighborhood.

 

[underground]

The thing is though, you can work up the most amazing development and economic plan in the history of development and economics, but the final outcome isn't arriving over night. Unless you can force 1) private developers to build everything you want ASAP, 2) residents to move to a neighborhood ASAP, and 3) private business owners to open stores/restaurants/etc ASAP, then things take time. It's just realistic. Has Kendall Square seriously sucked during most of the last decade? Oh, hell yes! But in all honesty, what else was going to happen? The Seaport's in more or less the same boat, just with added pressure (and not amazing planning, but that's another issue entirely).

 

[George_Apley]

The thing is though, you can work up the most amazing development and economic plan in the history of development and economics, but the final outcome isn't arriving over night. Unless you can force 1) private developers to build everything you want ASAP, 2) residents to move to a neighborhood ASAP, and 3) private business owners to open stores/restaurants/etc ASAP, then things take time. It's just realistic. Has Kendall Square seriously sucked during most of the last decade? Oh, hell yes! But in all honesty, what else was going to happen? The Seaport's in more or less the same boat, just with added pressure (and not amazing planning, but that's another issue entirely).

Exactly. There's no instant gratification for making these neighborhoods awesome. There's a right direction and a wrong direction. Kendall is moving in the right direction, in a big way. People can argue about the nature of the development in the Seaport, but removing parking lots in favor of mixed-use developments is also the right direction. Adding residences to Downtown Crossing is the right direction. Adding development to North Station is the right direction. Most areas of the city are moving in that "right" i.e. urban-friendly direction. Some move faster than others. Some are currently being left behind. But it's an ongoing process.

 

[armpitsOFmight]

Well if you want more affordable food options, that rundown mall of fast-food joints should be updated pronto. It's pretty dirty and at an excellent location. I think only 1/3 of it is full of shops.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

Yeah, I think I grabbed some to go chinese/japanese once.....
The burrito truck is my normal go to.

 

[JohnAKeith]

No, no. The Seaport still has regular guy places ... like, Whiskey Priest's, where you can score your Molly.

;O)

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/09/07/boston-police-arrest-two-suspects-in-molly-sting/

It's only taken a 90..... and is just where the Seaport is headed still.

Too many high end restaurants and over priced drink places. Nothing wrong with those, but they need to be tempered by more middle of the road fair, but it's definitely moving in the right direction as compared to where it was.

 

[JohnAKeith]

Buried in a story about the BRA in today's Banker & Tradesman:

"[A new mayor] needs to embrace the BRA - revamp it for timetables, transparency, deadlines and accountability," offered John Hynes, principal in the development team for Seaport Square, where Hynes hopes more than 50 percent of the total 6.3 million square feet of office, residential, hotel and retail space planned for the neighborhood will be under construction by the end of next year.

http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news156573.html

 

[timsox6]

At this point we've heard about real plans and proposals, or seen actual construction on parcels: A, B, C, E, F, K, L1, and Q. Any others? That would be eight out of about twenty parcels total.

 

[GMACK24]

Some new renderings of the PwC building:

http://www.usa.skanska.com/business-units/commercial-development/parcel-l1/

I like it but are there any plans to replace all these lost parking spots ?

As a commuter my options are getting reduced by all these developments.
I used to park next to the courthouse in the dirt lot there for 7 bucks back in 2002(ish) now I park over at Chanelside Parking near A street and Necco Street but who knows how long that will last. Its not awful its 250 a month which is doable. But with the city losing all these lots I am afraid the price will go up . . .

 

[cca]

There are at least 3 levels of parking below L1 and L2 according to the master plan. You parking spots will be preserved. (unless the sea level rises that is).

cca

 

[Matthew]

3 levels below? Sounds extremely expensive. Sigh. Hopefully they will be able to charge an appropriate price for them, and not be intimidated into subsidizing parking even more than it is already.

 

[Peterborough]

I like it but are there any plans to replace all these lost parking spots ?

As a commuter my options are getting reduced by all these developments.
I used to park next to the courthouse in the dirt lot there for 7 bucks back in 2002(ish) now I park over at Chanelside Parking near A street and Necco Street but who knows how long that will last. Its not awful its 250 a month which is doable. But with the city losing all these lots I am afraid the price will go up . . .

http://www.mbta.com/fares_and_passes/rail/

 

[jdrinboston]

Skanska may just end up building the whole thing themselves.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2013/09/exclusive-skanska-to-buy-seaport-parcel.html

 

[Hutchison]

From the BizJournal:

"Skanska set to buy parcel for its third Seaport tower"

By: Thomas Grillo

Skanska USA Commercial Development is close to inking a deal to buy more land in Boston’s Seaport District for construction of a 425,000-square-foot office tower, the Boston Business Journal has learned.

Dubbed “L2” the one-acre lot between Seaport Boulevard and Boston Wharf Road would be purchased from Boston Global Investors and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), the master developers for Seaport Square. The new tower would be built next to “L1” a one-acre parcel Skanska bought last year.

The development is part of Seaport Square, the 23-acre neighborhood under construction on Boston’s waterfront that will eventually include 6.3 million square feet of offices, residences, shops, restaurants, cultural and educational institutions, hotels and open space.

Shawn Hurley, Skanska’s executive vice president in Boston, confirmed the firm has an option to buy the lot, but declined comment on any other details.

“We are really excited about everything that’s happening in the Seaport District and look forward to furthering our stake hold in the neighborhood and on Seaport Boulevard,” Hurley said.

John Hynes, CEO and managing partner at Boston Global Investors, declined to comment beyond confirming that Skanska has an option to purchase the lot.

This is Skanska’s third purchase in the burgeoning Seaport District. Last year, Skanska paid $33 million for Parcel L1 *— recently renamed “101 Seaport” — from Hynes at the corner of Seaport Boulevard and Boston Wharf Road. The 440,000-square-foot, 17-story office tower that will break ground on Thursday at the southeast corner of Seaport Boulevard and Boston Wharf Road will be the new home of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which will occupy most of the building.

The site is adjacent to Parcel K, the property Skanska bought last year with Twining Properties for $18.6 million to develop Watermark Seaport, a 350-unit apartment building with 25,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The 275,000-square-foot residential tower.

Skanska is making a major commercial real estate play in the Boston area. They recently completed a 120,000-square-foot laboratory and office building located at 150 Second St. in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. The $70 million project is Skanska’s first commercial real estate investment in Cambridge, home to the some of best known biotechnology and technology companies.

Makes me wonder if all this development makes Menino any more likely to approve of the Fenway/Burger King proposal...